Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/765720
of the police officer who actually brought down the older Tsarnaev brother. When that was accomplished, it was time to decide what sets had to be built and what could be shot practically. Peter wanted to shoot in as many actual locations as possible, but it soon became obvious that not many of the real sites could be used. To re-create the explosions on Boylston Street on the day of the Marathon, a set would have to be built, the largest one in the movie. So the hunt was on for a large open area, at least one thousand feet in length and two hundred feet in width. The only site that had the correct size, sun angle and distance from inhabited structures was a closed Naval Air Station in South Weymouth, MA, the same area where the recent Ghostbusters reboot built their Times Square set. Unfortunately, due to the shortened schedule, building had to start quickly and in the middle of winter. I assembled an Art Department staff—Art Director Stephen Cooper, Assistant Art Director Bryan Felty, Set Designer Patrick Scalise and a few construction foremen—and set out to measure and re-create the downtown Boston Boylston Street bombing sites. The two bombing sites on Boylston were approximately six hundred and fifty feet apart. I knew we could not build the entire street, so after conferring with visual effects company Zero Effects, it was decided that approximately two hundred feet of each site would be built up to a height of no more than twenty feet. To verify this, I asked that a 1/4" scale model be built. I have always been a proponent of physical models as they are the best way to show the entire concept, are invaluable in discussions and a big help in budgeting. I wanted the entire model to be in proportion which meant the model would be about twenty feet long. The model was built with each bombing site on a table and the tables were separated the correct distance. Zero Effects had requested by now, that the two bombing sets be built exactly the correct distance apart so their Lidar fill-in data and set extensions would fit precisely. When the model was finished, it became the main reference for all departments for the work to be shot there—the biggest scenes of the movie. All of the action was plotted on the model and it was even used to show the Boston Athletic Association what the production would like to do on the actual Marathon Day, if they allowed us to film, which they did. Due to the compressed prep schedule and tight budget, there was no accommodation for Illustrators so we had to make do with models, rough sketches and plans. Based on the model discussions, construction drawings quickly followed, but not without issues. We were building the sets to match Marathon Day 2013 so we could use existing news footage and bomb videos, but Boylston Street is now a bit different. Buildings have been remodeled, stores have changed. Relying on a lot of research, we designed for 2013. We even had to pay the Boston Library not to plant the very large trees they were intending until after this year's Marathon. So construction began on the tarmac in South Weymouth in the dead of winter. I have to say this was the toughest construction and paint crew that I have ever known. Freezing temperatures and 50 mph winds, snow, sleet—it slowed the crews down but they never stopped. I was worried that the incessant winds might hamper shooting, but somehow Mother Nature smiled and when shooting began, the weather was great. Dodged a bullet. The sets were brilliant, I could